Runway Just Added Script-to-Video for Characters - A Direct Shot at HeyGen and Synthesia

Runway has introduced script-to-video capability to its Characters platform, enabling users to generate fully performed videos by simply typing what they want a character to say. The feature builds on Characters, which launched in March as a real-time avatar API powered by GWM-1, creating photorealistic or animated digital people from a single image. This development represents a direct challenge to established players like HeyGen and Synthesia, who have built their business models around script-to-video avatar generation. Runway's approach differs by layering this functionality onto a world model that already handles real-time conversation, video generation, and custom voice design through text prompts. The speed of Runway's feature rollout is particularly noteworthy. Video call capabilities were added on Tuesday, scripted performances on Thursday, with custom voice design features deployed in between. This rapid development cycle suggests Runway is aggressively expanding its platform capabilities to capture market share in the talking-head content creation space. For content creators working with avatar-based videos, the competitive landscape has intensified significantly. Runway's integrated approach, combining multiple AI capabilities within a single platform, could prove attractive to users who previously relied on specialised tools for different aspects of their workflow.